Get to Know the IEEE Board of Directors

The IEEE Board of Directors shapes the future direction of IEEE and is committed to ensuring IEEE remains a strong and vibrant organization—serving the needs of its members and the engineering and technology community worldwide while fulfilling the IEEE mission of advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

This article features IEEE Board of Directors members Takako Hashimoto, W. Clem Karl, and Yong Lian.

IEEE Senior Member Takako Hashimoto

Director, Region 10: Asia Pacific

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Hashimoto is a professor and deputy to the president at Chiba University of Commerce, in Ichikawa City, Japan, where she specializes in data science, artificial intelligence, and information systems. Hashimoto is also involved with developing methods to analyze large-scale social media data to understand public perceptions and identify emerging topics.

A key focus of Hashimoto’s work has involved the analysis of public sentiment and information diffusion related to major global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and political elections. Her research in this area has contributed to a better understanding of how misinformation spreads and how public trust in institutions evolve over time, enabling organizations to respond more effectively to societal needs and concerns.

An active member of the IEEE Computer Society, Hashimoto received the 2022 IEEE Computer Society Golden Core Member Award, the 2019 IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Larry K. Wilson Transnational Award, and the 2019 IEEE Region 10 Women in Engineering Outstanding Volunteer Award. She served on the IEEE Computer Society’s board of governors from 2021 to 2023 and was chair of the IEEE Women in Engineering Committee in 2015 and 2016.

As the IEEE Region 10 director, Hashimoto is focused on fostering collaboration, engagement, and professional development across the Asia Pacific region. She is additionally committed to promoting involvement in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields and actively supports initiatives that empower all engineers and scientists. Through her leadership roles in IEEE, she strives to create an environment that nurtures many perspectives and helps drive innovation and progress in technology and engineering.

IEEE Life Fellow W. Clem Karl

Director and vice president, Publication Services and Products

W. Clem Karl

A professor and chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Boston University and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Karl has researched computational imaging and statistical signal and image processing with applications in security and medical imaging.

Specifically, Karl’s work has contributed to the advancement of a variety of practical applications including airport checkpoint screening and tomographic cardiac imaging, through which 3D images of the heart, blood vessels, and surrounding structures can help diagnose heart conditions such as blockages in the coronary arteries. In his work on airport checkpoint baggage-screening technology, his algorithms have reduced the number of false alarms and increased the number of suitcases processed. For medical applications, his approaches have sought to reduce patient doses of medication and have enhanced the detection of abnormal conditions.

A longtime active IEEE volunteer, Karl is a member of the IEEE Computer, IEEE Engineering Medicine and Biology, and IEEE Signal Processing societies. He has authored more than 250 journal and conference articles and has contributed to a number of books including Multi-Sensor Image Fusion and Its Applications, The Handbook of Image and Video Processing, and Compressed Sensing and Sparse Filtering. He was the inaugural editor in chief and a cofounder of the IEEE Transactions on Computational Imaging, and he was editor in chief of the monthly journal IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

Karl has served in positions related to IEEE publications for more than two decades. In his role as vice president of Publication Services and Products, he aims to maintain IEEE publications as the trusted repository of the scientific record.

IEEE Fellow Yong Lian

Director, Division I

Betty Hu

Lian has been a technical leader and pioneer in biomedical circuits and systems for more than 40 years. His groundbreaking innovations have led to self-powered, miniaturized biomedical sensors that enable continuous, real-time health monitoring. These advancements have greatly enhanced the adoption and efficacy of wearable and implantable medical devices for those with chronic illnesses. His devices allow for early detection and timely intervention without frequent hospital visits. By making long-term, real-time monitoring more accessible, his work is revolutionizing patient care and lessening the burden on the health care system.

Lian is a member of the IEEE Circuits and Systems, IEEE Electron Devices, and IEEE Solid-State Circuits societies as well as the IEEE Standards Association. An active volunteer, he was the 2018–2019 president of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. From 2022 to 2024 he was a member-at-large for the IEEE Publication Services and Products board.

He has coauthored more than 340 papers, one book, and four book chapters, and he holds 20 patents. He has received 18 research awards and several honors. Among his most recent recognitions, he was the recipient of the 2024 IEEE Circuits and Systems Society’s Meritorious Service Award, the 2023 IEEE Circuits and Systems Society’s Mac Van Valkenburg Award, and the 2023 IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems Best Paper Award.

Lian has played a pivotal role in shaping the biomedical engineering community. In 2003 he helped found the IEEE Biomedical and Life Science Circuits and Systems (BioCAS) technical committee, and in 2004 launched the IEEE BioCAS Conference. He also helped launch IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems. More recently, he founded the IEEE Standards Workshop on AI for Healthcare to promote the integration of artificial intelligence into medical applications.

As IEEE Division 1 director, Lian is spearheading efforts to enhance collaboration among societies and councils. He is leading initiatives to develop IEEE standards for flexible and wearable biomedical devices in his effort to advance health care innovation and lay the groundwork for next-generation medical technology.